1. Incorporation by Reference
Applicant(s) hereby incorporate herein by reference, any and all U.S. patents and U.S. patent applications cited or referred to in this application.
2. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to clothes hangers and more particularly to a clothes hanger that is inexpensive to produce, has a split horizontal bar so that garments may be slipped on and off the bar by parting the legs of the bar and wherein the legs are jointly engagable for securing the garment after it is engaged with the hanger.
3. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Miale, U.S. Des. 285,264 describes a hanger design.
Jaffe, U.S. Des. 295,700 describes a clothes hanger design.
Winnemore, U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,729 describes a garment hanger comprising a pair of elongated sections disposed in intersecting relation adjacent corresponding ends thereof and pivotally connected together at said intersection, said sections thus disposed and connected providing relatively long normally downwardly directed diverging garment-supporting portions disposed below said pivotal connection, said sections above the pivotal connection providing a pair of relatively short separable loop-forming portions normally held in engagement with each other by the weight of the relatively long garment-supporting portions.
Morton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,013,706 describes a garment hanger comprising a pair of elongate, smooth, substantially straight, horizontal clamping rods, normally disposed parallel and in side-by-side relation, said rods being integral portions of a single length of smooth wire and being integrally joined at one end by a spiral spring coil of the same length of wire and which tends to hold said rods closely adjacent to each other, the maximum transverse thickness of the hanger not substantially exceeding four times the diameter of the wire whereby garments carried by such hangers, suspended from a fixed horizontal bar, may be packed closely together, each of said horizontal rods, at that end which is remote from the spring coil, having a downwardly inclined portion which merges with a short horizontal portion which, in turn, merges with an upwardly directed extension which is inclined inwardly at an acute angle to the horizontal, the two extensions being substantially parallel and closely adjacent to each other, each extension being located directly above a corresponding one of said horizontal rods, one of said extensions terminating in a downwardly open suspension hook consisting of a single thickness of the wire and which is located above the midlengths of the horizontal rods, the other of said extensions being shorter than the hooked extension and terminating at a distance below the lower part of the hook, and having its end permanently secured to the hooked extension at a point spaced from the hook, an annular slider which embraces both of said extensions and which is movable from an upper position such that it permits separation of those ends of the horizontal rods which are remote from the spring coil, so that they may receive between them the margin of a garment, and a lower clamping position where the slider holds the horizontal rods in garment-gripping position, the connection of the extensions with the horizontal rods being such as to permit the hook to be moved up out of engagement with a supporting bar without lifting the horizontal rods or necessitating the removal of a garment gripped between said horizontal rods.
Merriman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,734 describes a garment hanger comprising, in combination, a supporting portion, a horizontal elongated first portion extending from said supporting portion defining a first surface, a horizontal elongated equalizing bar portion having a second surface defined thereon, said equalizing bar portion including spaced end portions and a central portion disposed between said end portions, one of said end portions being unobstructed and freely accessible, and cantilever supported resilient biasing means supporting said equalizing bar portion in vertical alignment with 'respect to said horizontal elongated first portion whereby said first and second surfaces are related in an opposed relationship to hold a garment therebetween, said resilient biasing means supportingly engaging said equalizing bar portion only at said central portion and supporting said equalizing bar portion for angular movement relative to said first portion and biasing said equalizing bar portion toward said first portion for holding a garment between said first and second surfaces.
Basile et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,348,745 describes a garment hanger comprising a single elongated metal rod round in cross section having outwardly and downwardly extending shoulder portions including lower ends thereon and an upstanding central arched portion connected therebetween, a horizontal bar extending inwardly at one end from the lower end of one of said shoulder portions and. having an upstanding portion at the other end closely spaced from the lower end of the other of said shoulder portions, said horizontal bar being substantially straight and having opposite end portions inclined downward and outwardly relative to said upstanding portion and said lower end of one of said shoulder portions, respectively, and a hook projecting upwardly from said central arched portion.
Palmaer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,493 describes a clothes hanger having a fixed hook member, which pivotably supports a second hook member. The second hook member can pivot to a position in which it locks the hanger on a rail, but can be released by operating handle portions provided on the hook members.
Koyama, U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,286 describes a garment hanger having a base with a hook and a trousers mount. A connector connects the base and the trousers mount in such a way that one end of the mount is open and a space for hanging and removing trousers is formed between the base and the mount. The ends of the mount are provided with elements, which engage and hold the trousers only when the hanger is tilted so as to prevent the trousers from sliding off the mount.
Saliaris, U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,237 describes a trousers hanger of the type having two integrally formed legs disposed at an acute angle which form an open end through which trousers can be easily mounted over one leg of the hanger. The other side of the hanger includes a hook end adapted to permit the hanger to be hung from a clothing rod or the like. The lower leg which accepts a pair of trousers includes a pair of spaced, linearly extending gripping bars overlying significant length portions of the lower leg and are resiliently biased in a closely spaced relationship to an upper edge of the lower ledge for engaging a pair of trousers placed between the gripping bars and lower leg in a manner which tends to hold the trousers in a slightly taunt, unwrinkled condition. The confronting inner ends of each gripping bar are spaced from one another and include an upturned edge to facilitate mounting an edge of the trousers under each gripping bar.
Heiber, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,867 describes a garment hanger including an elongate slide member adapted to receive a garment suspended therefrom, and clamp means for holding the garment on the elongate slide member. The elongate slide member has a first end region and an opposed second end region, and is structured so as to impart a gravitational bias on the garment in the direction of the second end region. The clamp means is arranged proximate the first end region of the elongate slide member, and holds the garment on the elongate slide member in opposition to the gravitational bias imposed on the garment by the structure of the slide member. The hanger also includes support means for associating the garment hanger with a fixed support structure, such as a clothes rod.
Licari et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,945 describes a “through-the-neck” garment hanger that may be fabricated with a single component. The hanger has a base portion, first and second slanted side portions, a neck portion, and a hook portion. One of the slanted side portions of the hanger has a free end that is not integrally attached to the rest of the hanger. Thus, a door may be formed between the slanted side portions whereby the hanger may be easily inserted through the neck of a garment.
Our prior art search with abstracts described above teaches: several closes hangers including a design, but fails to teach a molded wire hanger with reinforcing webs for rigidizing strength and closure means for securing a garment supporting split horizontal rod. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.